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Michele Claibourn
I am a research director – a senior data scientist, political scientist, community-engaged scholar, and senior administrator – with 20 years of experience teaching, leading, and managing research and data science teams, most recently in building and leading the Research Data Services team in the UVA Library.
In the last five years, my own work has turned towards action-based research, using the tools of data science to promote accountable governance, make visible racial and other social inequities, and impact public policy and movement building. I am always interested in opportunities to use my experience and skills towards creating a more economically and socially just world.
Professional Experience
Consult with and design research projects for partners and clients looking to better understand racial disparities and social structures, and to design policy in response.
Founded StatLab, a data science consulting service for members of the UVA community where I continue to serve as a senior consultant and mentor student fellows.
Built a new division of the library enhancing our ability to support the growing data science research community at UVA, recruiting, hiring, and managing a team with diverse skills and talents to meet emerging university research needs.
Supervise a team of 10-12 full-time staff, 3-4 graduate fellows, and teams in mulitple collaborations on a range of research projects, including work on equity and COVID response in the Charlottesville community, racial disparities in the Charlottesville and Albemarle child welfare systems, forced displacement events with humanitarian partners, and additional community-oriented and library-directed data science efforts.
See my webpage for a more project-oriented and link-filled portfolio.
Director, StatLab and Research Data Services
UVA Library, University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA
2015 - 2013
- Associate Director, Data Science Institute, 2014-2016 (partial buyout)
Data Scientist
Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA
2013 - 2011
Assistant Professor
Department of Politics, University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA
2011 - 2004
Instructor
ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative Methods, University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI
2005 - 2002
Assistant Professor
Department of Politics, University of Oklahoma
Norman, OK
2004 - 2002
Education
- Statistical modeling and data science
- R, RStudio, Shiny
- Data wrangling and visualization
- Stata and SPSS
- Text analytics
- Some Python and SQL
- GitHub and reproducibility
- Qualitative methods
PhD., Political Science
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, WI
2002 - 1996
B.A, Political Science
Rice University
Houston, TX
1993 - 1989
Teaching and Mentoring
20 years of experience teaching statistics and data science methods, applied policy research and political behavior to undergraduate and graduate students.
Designed data workshop series for student and adult learning communities, including recruiting and mentoring instructors, marketing and assessment,, and contributing to select topics.
Experienced writer in many formats, from university press books and peer-reviewed journal articles, to action-oriented reports for local and state agencies, educational materials and informal writing
Skilled in communicating about data, technology, and policy to stakeholders, advocates, and learners.
Graduate Courses
University of Virginia and University of Oklahoma
N/A
2020 - 2002
- Public Interest Data Lab, Saving Lives with Data, Text as Data, Applied Causal Inference, General Linear Models, Linear Models, Applied Time Series, Mixed-Effects Models/Longitudinal Analysis, Introduction to Statistical Analysis
Undegraduate Courses
University of Virginia and University of Oklahoma
N/A
2020 - 2002
- Project First Gen +, Research Design & Analysis, The Presidency and the Public, Media & Political Communication, Political Pscyology & Decision Making, Citizen Competence in American Democracy, Introduction to American Politics
Select StatLab Workshops
University of Virginia
N/A
2019 - 2013
- Six-part series on Data Science in R, Multiple Imputation, Cluster Analysis, Duration Models, Matching Methods, Mixed-Effects Models,Sentiment Analysis, Topic Modeling, Text Classification, Data Wrangling, Linear Modeling
Publications
Bigger on the Inside: Building Research Data Services at the University of Virginia
Insights 28: 100-106
N/A
2015
Citizen Participation and Congressional Respon-siveness: New Evidence for Why Participation Matters
Legislative Studies Quarterly 38: 59-82
N/A
2013
- With Paul Martin
Hearing Campaign Appeals: The Accountability Implications of Campaign Tone
Political Communication 29: 64-85
N/A
2012
Creating Constituencies: Presidential Campaigns,Selective Mobilization, and the Scope of Conflict
Political Behavior 34: 27-56
N/A
2012
- With Paul Martin
Presidential Campaigns and Presidential Accountability
University of Illinois Press, Series on Democracy, Free Enterprise, and the Rule of Law
N/A
2011
Making a Connection: Repetition and Priming in Campaigns
Journal of Politics 70: 1142-1159
N/A
2008
Reports and Selected Writing
Child Welfare Referrals in Char-lottesville
Report to the Charlottesville Department of Social Services
N/A
2020
- With Charlotte McClintock and the Public Interest Data Lab
Charlottesville Foster Care Study
Report to the Charlottesville Department of Social Services
N/A
2019
- With Charlotte McClintock and the Public Interest Data Lab
Charlottesville Child Welfare Study
Report to the Charlottesville Department of Social Services
N/A
2018
- With Charlotte McClintock and the Public Interest Data Lab
Review of Competitive Elections and the American Voter, by Keena Lipsitz
Perspectives on Politics 10: 1030-1031
N/A
2013
Red State, Blue State: Demographic Change and Presidential Politics in Virginia
Numbers Count (July)
N/A
2012
- With Dustin Cable
The Influence of Campaign Advertising
Encyclopedia of Public Opinion, Greenwood Press
N/A
2005
Gender Differences in Citizen-Level Democratic Citi-zenship: Evidence from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems
Presented to the International Political Science Association (2000), the Midwest Political Science Association (2001), and the Conference on Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (2002)
N/A
2002 - 2000
- With Virginia Sapiro
Fourth-Year Report: Milwaukee Parental Choice Program
University of Wisconsin-Madison
N/A
1994
- With John Witte, Christopher Thorn, and Kim Pritchard
Grants and Awards
Building a Collaborative Regional Equity Atlas
Institute for Museum and Library Services
N/A
2020 - 2018
Thrive Grant for Project First Gen Plus
Office of the Provost and Center for Teaching Excellence, University of Virginia
N/A
2019
Creating a Data Catalog to Promote Access to Open Health Data
National Network of Libraries of Medicine
N/A
2018 - 2017
Summer Research Grant
Vice-President for Research, University of Virginia
N/A
2006 - 2005
Excellence in Diversity Fellow
University of Virginia
N/A
2006 - 2005
Junior Faculty Research Grant
University of Oklahoma
N/A
2004 - 2003
Faculty Enrichment Grant
College of Arts and Sciences, University of Oklahoma
N/A
2003
Instructional Technology Grant
College of Arts and Sciences, University of Oklahoma
N/A
2002
Midwest Political Science Association Sophonisba Breckenridge Award
Best paper on Womenin Politics presented at the annual meeting
N/A
2001
National Science Foundation Dissertation Improvement Grant
University of Wisconsin-Madison
N/A
2000
Clara Penniman Fellowship
Department of Political Science, University of Wisconsin
N/A
1999
Professional Activities and Service
Search Committee
Data Scientist, MDI Predictive Displacement Project, Save the Children, International
N/A
2019
Panel Chair and Moderator
Data & Democracy, School of Data Science Datapalooza, UVA
N/A
2019
Search Committee
Associate University Librarian for Research and Learning Services, UVA
N/A
2019
REU Mentor
School of Data Science, UVA
N/A
2019
MAPP2Health Data Evaluation Committee
Thomas Jefferson Health District
N/A
2019 - 2018
Data Science Undergraduate Certificate Committee
UVA
N/A
2019 - 2018
Co-founder and co-organizer
UVA/CVille R Meetup
N/A
2019 - 2014
Judge, MSDS Capstone Projects
Systems & Information Engineering Design Symposium, UVA
N/A
2019 - 2015
Data Science Advisory Board
UVA
N/A
2018 - 2014
Journal and Award Reviewer
N/A
N/A
2018 - 2002
- American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, British Journal of Political Science, Political Behavior, Political Psychology, Political Research Quarterly, American Politics Research, Politics and Gender, National Science Foundation, Time-Sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences
Judge, GCOM 7140 Customer Analytics Capstone
UVA
N/A
2017
Advanced Computing Steering Committee
UVA
N/A
2017 - 2014
Organizer and Host, UVA DataFest
UVA
N/A
2016
Quantitative Collaborative Steering Committee
Colleges of Arts & Sciences, UVA
N/A
2015 - 2013
Planning Committee for Graduate Certificate in Survey Research Methods
Colleges of Arts & Sciences, UVA
N/A
2013 - 2012
Section Chair, Elections and Voting Behavior
American Political Science Association Annual Meeting
N/A
2012
Philip E. Converse Book Award Committee
American Political Science Association’s Elections, Public Opinion, and Voting Behavior Section
N/A
2011
Graduate Admissions Committee
Department of Politics, UVA
N/A
2011 - 2010
Undergraduate Studies Committee
Department of Politics, UVA
N/A
2011 - 2004
Section Chair, Electoral Campaigns
Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meeting
N/A
2008
Quantitative Reasoning Assessment Committee
UVA
N/A
2008 - 2007
Planning Committee for conference on Polling and Democracy
Miller Center for Public Affairs, UVA
N/A
2008 - 2007
Comparative Politics Search Committee
Department of Politics, UVA
N/A
2008 - 2007
Graduate Student Selection Committee
Society of Political Methodology’s Annual Meeting
N/A
2007 - 2006
Kennedy Oral History Research Director Search Committee
Miller Center for Public Affairs, UVA
N/A
2005
Undergraduate Honors Thesis award committee
Department of Politics, UVA
N/A
2005
Recent Presentations
Homework and Hubris: Preparing for Community-Engaged Courses
Innovations in Teaching Pedagogy Summit, UVA
N/A
2019
- With Paul Martin
Smaller on the Outside: Supporting Researchers through Library andResearch Computing/IT Collaborations
Southeastern University Research As-sociation IT Meeting
N/A
2018
Imagining New Ways to Engage Political News
UVA Library
N/A
2017
Bigger on the Inside: Integrating Research Data Services in Campus-Wide Networks
Coalition for Networked Information Fall Meeting
N/A
2016
Presidential Debate Analysis in R
UVA/CVille R User Meetup
N/A
2016
Congressional Earmarks and the Politcs of Representation
Center for the Study of Data and Knowledge, UVA
N/A
2016
Data Services as Information Services: or, Old Wine, New Bottle
ALA Midwinter Meeting
N/A
2014
- With Ivey Glendon
Population Projections by DemographicDetails: A Multi-Layered Approach
Annual Meeting of the Population Associationof American
N/A
2013
- With Rebecca Tippett and Qian Cai
Multilevel Modeling for Population Projections: Projections for Virginia
Southern Demographic Association
N/A
2012